Bloggin’ on the Edge

Posted by Scott Spielman at 2:00 AM | Comments

By all accounts, it was a pretty ugly scene at the Belleville Strawberry Festival on June 16.

Belleville Police Chief Gene Taylor called it the worst crowd he’d ever seen as he reported to the city council about the violence that erupted at about 10 that night.

The officer in charge that night was also there to back up the chief’s claims, and several residents were on hand to voice their concerns and talk about what they had suffered when several dozen unruly youths picked fights with each other and caused a general ruckus.

It sounds like an alarming situation, but so was the response from police officials and those impacted residents: Shut down the festival?

Shut down this annual celebration of the community because of a relative few bad apples? In essence, to let the mob mentality rob residents of a chance to show their community spirit?

It seems like a bit of a knee-jerk reaction to me and a part of an alarming trend I’ve seen where people are more likely to throw in the towel and let the sporadic forces of darkness overcome those of goodness and light.

Shut down the festival because of the unwanted element it attracts? It’d be far better to work to reduce that negative element and proactively change things for the better. I don’t want to be a part of a society that is afraid to celebrate its heritage and sense of community because of public safety issues.

If we are coming to a place where we are afraid to show off our community, there is something seriously wrong with the world.

It’s not just this incident in Belleville, either. I’ve heard comments like this in my hometown of Wayne, too—whether it’s a reluctance to identify trees that have made a state-wide registry because of their size and beauty for fear that they’d be vandalized or concerns that the mural on the State Wayne Theater would be marred by graffiti. When the Wayne City Council decided not put on their annual fireworks celebration this year, it was in part due to budget concerns and in part because of the fights that broke out during the event last year.

To allow this bad element to spoil things for the rest of us, to me, is un-American. It chips away at the very freedoms we claim to enjoy, the way of life we promote.

Obviously, city officials should be as concerned about the safety of residents as the police department. There is a year now, to come up with a plan for improved safety. There is a year, now, to come up with a plan to get youth more involved with the festival, instead of fighting against it—and each other.

There’s a year, now, to take stock of our own values and determine if we want to showcase them or let a few bullies send us into hiding. Don’t let ‘the mob’ take these things from us.

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